The Effects of Creolisation on Thai Fashion Consumers,
Retailers and their Supply Chain
Boon-arak Raksawong
A thesis submitted to
The University of Gloucestershire
in accordance with the requirements of the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in the Faculty of Business and Management
December 2015
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Abstract
This research aims to investigate the effects of creolisation (in a manifestation of cultural change, cultural mixing and ethnicity) on consumer behaviour and fashion supply chain management in a Thai retailing context. In this study, creolisation is the process of cultural crossover that appears when local culture has been influenced and integrated with foreign culture. This doctoral study develops a theoretical and conceptual framework that addresses the main question of how creolisation impacts on Thai fashion consumers, retailers and their supply chain. Based on reviewing literature, there is lack of studies exploring the relationship between creolisation, consumer behaviour and fashion supply chain management in Thailand. It is expected that the study will complete this gap by providing the empirical findings to the literature.
The study was based on the scientific realism position with a deductive (Thai fashion consumers) and an inductive (Thai fashion retailers and their supply chain) approach to gain a detailed understanding of their relationships. This also relates to mixed methods approach, including the three main methods used. Quantitative questionnaire surveys were conducted with Thai fashion consumers, whereas qualitative interviews and document analysis were used to collect the data from Thai fashion retailers and manufacturers. In terms of data analysis, the data from questionnaire survey were analysed by descriptive statistics and multiple-regression analysis, whereas the interviews data and document analysis were analysed by directed content analysis. In particular, the literature review and the findings from qualitative interviews were used to construct hypotheses to be tested in the quantitative analysis. Overall findings were integrated in the interpretation stage based on the suggested conceptual framework. Furthermore, the triangulation approach was considered to validate the research
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findings on the relationship between creolisation, Thai fashion consumer behaviour and Thai fashion supply chain management.
The study contributes to the extant literature by providing not only new insights into its deficiencies, but also developing a suggested conceptual framework to inform practice. In particular, Thai fashion retailers may have interest in the suggested conceptual framework and apply it in order to enhance an understanding of the relationship between creolisation, consumer behaviour and supply chain management. Moreover, the findings could contribute to the responsiveness strategy in fashion supply chain management. In terms of research methodology, the study also contributes to a methodological foundation of supply chain management research. There is the using of mixed methods approach which integrates a quantitative method and qualitative method in order to investigate the effects of creolisation on consumer behaviour and fashion supply chain management in Thailand.
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Declaration
I declare that the work in this thesis was carried out in accordance with the regulations of the University of Gloucestershire and is original except where indicated by specific reference in the text. No part of the thesis has been submitted as part of any other academic award. The thesis has not been presented to any other education institution in the United Kingdom or overseas.
Any views expressed in the thesis are those of the author and in no way represent those of the University.
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Acknowledgments
Doing a Ph.D. thesis was a wonderful life experience as well as a challenge for me. As with any major undertaking, this thesis was completed while many things were happening in my life. It is my great pleasure to acknowledge my eternal thanks to all those who have given me their contributions to this achievement.
First and foremost, my express gratitude goes to Professor Neil Towers, who proficiently taught me and shared magnificently in the five years of discovery. His valuable guidance, cheerful enthusiasm and kindly nature have deeply impressed me. I am thankful to him for his supportive academic skills to me while studying at Heriot Watt University and the University of Gloucestershire. Furthermore, I wish to express deep gratitude to all academic staff at University of Gloucestershire. In particular, Dr Rachel Vieira who is my associate supervisor and Dr Philippa Ward who is research degrees director of the Business School.
A word of thankfulness must also go out to Srinakharinwirot University, which has formerly been my working place, particularly the Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts and the graduate school of Srinakharinwirot University. I would like to gratefully acknowledge the funding sources that made my Ph.D. thesis possible.
In addition, I wish to thank all the research participants who have kindly shared their time and personal experience, without their preparedness this thesis would not have happened.
Last but not least, I am very grateful to my family for all their love and encouragement. For my mom and dad who raised me with a great love and supported to me in all my pursuits. For my friends, Chockchai, Noppcha, Natthanai, Isamael, Shang, Rosnia,
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Maryam, Thanh Pham and….I cannot name you all but everybody who faithful supported to me during the final stages of this Ph.D. thesis.
I will always be appreciative to have had the pleasure of all these people throughout my Ph.D. journey and beyond. Thank you.
viii Table of Contents
Abstract ... iii
Acknowledgments ... vi
List of Tables ... xiv
List of Figures ... xvii
Chapter One: Introduction ... 1
1.1 Research Background... 2
1.2 Research Purpose ... 5
1.3 Research Questions ... 6
1.4 Research Methodology... 7
1.5 Research Structure ... 9
Chapter Two: The Relationship between Creolisation and Culture ... 11
2.1 Concept of Creolisation ... 11
2.2 Creolisation and Culture ... 17
2.3 Creolisation and Cultural Values ... 20
2.4 Creolisation and Cultural Level ... 21
2.5 Creolisation and Cultural Dimensions ... 25
2.6 Creolisation and Ethnicity ... 33
2.7 Creolisation and Acculturation ... 35
2.8 Creolisation and Its Effects on National Culture ... 36
2.9 Summary ... 38
Chapter Three: Understanding the Influence of Culture on Consumer Behaviour ... 40
3.1 Definition of Culture and Consumer Behaviour ... 40
3.2 Background of Culture‘s influence on Consumer Behaviour ... 42
3.3 Culture and Influencing factors of Consumer Behaviour ... 47
3.4 Social factors ... 47 3.4.1 Subcultures ... 48 3.4.2 Social Class ... 48 3.4.3 Groups ... 50 3.5 Individual factors ... 53 3.5.1 Attitude ... 53 3.5.2 Personal Values ... 55 3.5.3 Personality ... 58 3.5.4 Perceptions ... 60 3.5.5 Learning ... 61
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3.5.6 Motivation ... 63
3.5.7 Lifestyle ... 67
3.6 Theoretical Approach to the Influence of Culture on Consumer Behaviour... 68
3.6.1 An Overview of Cultural Dimension‘s Influences on Consumer Behaviour ... 69
3.6.2 Theory of Planned Behaviour ... 72
3.6.3 The Term Fashion and Consumer Behaviour ... 75
3.6.4 Theoretical Framework of Cultural Dimension‘s Influences on Fashion Consumer Behaviour ... 77
3.7 Creolisation and Fashion Consumer Behaviour ... 82
3.8 Summary ... 83
Chapter Four: Fashion Supply Chain Management ... 85
4.1 Supply Chain Management Theory ... 85
4.1.1 Transaction Cost Economics ... 85
4.1.2 Resource- Based View ... 92
4.1.3 The Relationship between TCE and RBV ... 93
4.2 Understanding Supply Chain Management... 96
4.3 Supply Attributes ... 98
4.3.1 Lean Supply Chain ... 99
4.3.2 Agile Supply Chain ... 100
4.3.3 Leagile Supply Chain ... 101
4.4 Partnership ... 104
4.5 Fashion Supply Chain Management ... 106
4.5.1 The Process of Fashion Supply Chain Management ... 106
4.5.2 Fashion Markets and Affecting Factors ... 109
4.5.3 Thai Fashion Industry ... 112
4.6 The Role of Creolisation in Consumer Behaviour and Fashion Supply Chain Management ... 113
4.6.1 The Influence of Fashion Trends and Consumer Behaviour on Fashion Supply Chain Management ... 114
4.6.2 The Effect of Creolisation and Consumer Behaviour on Retailing in Fashion Supply Chain Management ... 115
4.6.3 The Impact of Creolisation on Manufacturing in Fashion Supply Chain Management ... 120
4.7 Theoretical Propositions Development and the Suggested Conceptual Framework ... 123
4.7.1 Theoretical Proposition One (P1): The Relationship between Creolisation and National Culture ... 123
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4.7.2 Theoretical Proposition Two (P2): The Influence of Creolisation and National culture
on Consumer Behaviour ... 125
4.7.3 Theoretical Proposition Three (P3): The Role of Creolisation in Consumer Behaviour and Fashion Supply Chain Management ... 127
4.7.4 The Suggested Conceptual Framework... 130
4.8 Summary ... 131
Chapter Five: Research Methodology ... 133
5.1 Research Philosophy ... 134 5.2 Research Methodology... 138 5.2.1 Deductive Approach... 138 5.2.2 Inductive Approach ... 139 5.2.3 Quantitative Approach ... 142 5.2.4 Qualitative Approach ... 143
5.2.5 Mixed Methods Approach ... 146
5.3 Research Method and Sampling Process ... 148
5.3.1 Quantitative Method: A Questionnaire Survey ... 158
5.3.2 Qualitative Methods ... 162
5.3.2.1 Semi-Structure Interview ... 162
5.3.2.2 Document Analysis ... 165
5.3.3 Realibility, Validity, and Triangulation ... 167
5.3.3.1 Reliability ... 167
5.3.3.2 Validity ... 171
5.3.3.3 Triangulation ... 174
5.4 Data Analysis ... 176
5.4.1 Quantitative Data Analysis ... 176
5.4.2 Qualitative Data Analysis ... 178
5.5 Ethical Considerations ... 181
5.6 Summary ... 183
Chapter Six: Data Analysis: Thai Fashion Retailers and Manufacturers ... 187
6.1 Thai Fashion Style ... 188
6.1.1 Characters of Thai Fashion Style ... 188
6.1.2 The Significant Aspects of Thai Fashion Style ... 191
6.1.3 Thai Fashion Style and Creolisation ... 196
6.2 Creolisation and Thai National Culture ... 200
6.2.1 Thai National Culture Defined ... 200
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6.3 Thai National Cultures and Consumer Behaviour ... 208
6.4 Creolisation, Thai National Culture and Thai Fashion Consumer Behaviour... 214
6.5 The Role of Creolisation and Thai Fashion Consumer Behaviour in Thai Fashion Supply Chain Management ... 216
6.5.1 The Relationship between Thai Fashion Consumer Behaviour and Thai Fashion Supply Chain Management ... 217
6.5.2 The Relationship between the Global Fashion Trends, Thai Fashion Consumer Behaviour and Thai Fashion Supply Chain Management ... 222
6.5.3 The Relationship between the Three Cultural Characteristics of Creolisation, Thai Fashion Consumer Behaviour and Thai Fashion Retailing ... 225
6.6 The Relationship between Creolisation, Thai Fashion Retailing and Thai Fashion Manufacturing ... 232
6.6.1 Cultural Difference between Thai and Overseas Fashion Manufactures ... 233
6.6.2 The Integration between Thai Fashion Retailers, Thai and Overseas Fashion Manufacturers ... 237
6.6.3 The Impact of Creolisation on Thai Fashion Retailing and Thai Fashion Manufacturing ... 239
6.7 Summary ... 246
Chapter Seven: Data Analysis: Thai Fashion Consumers ... 249
7.1 Demographic Characteristics of Respondents ... 250
7.2 Descriptive Statistics ... 252
7.2.1 Cultures and Fashion Consumption Behaviour ... 254
7.2.2 Thai National Cultural Values ... 255
7.2.3 Fashion Consumer Behaviour and Fashion Trends ... 257
7.2.4 Thai Fashion Style ... 261
7.2.5 Thai Fashion Retailing Preference ... 263
7.3 Hypothesis Development ... 265
7.3.1 The Relationship between the Three Cultural Characteristics of Creolisation and Thai National Culture ... 266
7.3.2 The Relationship between the Five Cultural Dimensions of Thai National Culture and Thai Fashion Consumer Behaviour ... 268
7.3.3 The Relationship between Thai Fashion Consumer Behaviour, fashion trends and Thai Fashion Retailing ... 270
7.3.4 The Relationship between Creolisation, Thai Fashion Consumer Behaviour and Thai Fashion Retailing ... 273
7.4 Hypothesis Testing and Results ... 277
7.4.1 Hypothesis 1: Testing the Relationship between the Three Cultural Characteristics of Creolisation and Thai National Culture ... 280
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7.4.2 Hypothesis 2: Testing the Relationship between the Five Cultural Dimensions of
Thai National Culture and Thai Fashion Consumer Behaviour ... 282
7.4.3 Hypothesis 3: Testing the Relationship between Thai Fashion Consumer Behaviour and Thai Fashion Retailing ... 284
7.4.4 Hypothesis 4: Testing the Relationship between Creolisation, Thai Fashion Consumer Behaviour and Thai Fashion Retailing ... 286
7.5 Empirical Results of Hypothesis Testing ... 290
7.6 Summary ... 294
Chapter Eight: Interpretation of Key Themes ... 297
8.1 The Influence of Creolisation on the Five Cultural Dimensions of Thai National Culture ... 297
8.1.1 Identifying the Five Cultural Dimensions of Thai National Culture ... 298
8.1.2 The Influence of the Three Cultural Characteristics of Creolisation on the Five Cultural Dimensions of Thai National Culture ... 300
8.2 The Effect of the Five Cultural Dimensions of Thai National Culture on Thai Fashion Consumer Behaviour ... 303
8.3 The Relationship between Creolisation, Thai National Culture and Thai Fashion Consumer Behaviour ... 307
8.4 The Relationship between Creolisation, Thai Fashion Consumer Behaviour and Thai Fashion Supply Chain Management ... 310
8.4.1 The Influence of Thai Fashion Consumer Behaviour on Thai Fashion Retailing .... 310
8.4.2 The Impact of Global Fashion Trends on Thai Fashion Consumer Behaviour and Thai Fashion Retailing ... 311
8.4.3 The Effect of Creolisation on Thai Fashion Consumer Behaviour and Thai Fashion Retailing ... 313
8.4.4 The Integration of Empirical Results on the Relationship between Creolisation, Thai Fashion Retailing and Thai Fashion Manufacturing ... 316
8.5 The Integration of Empirical Results and Revisiting the Suggested Conceptual Framework ... 319
8.6 Summary ... 322
Chapter Nine: Discussion and Conclusions ... 323
9.1 Summary of Empirical Results ... 324
9.1.1 Findings on the Relationship between Creolisation and the Five Cultural Dimensions of Thai National Culture (RQ1) ... 325
9.1.2 Findings on the Relationship between Creolisation, Thai National Culture and Thai Fashion Consumer Behaviour (RQ2) ... 327
9.1.3 Findings on the Relationship between Thai Fashion Consumer Behaviour, Fashion Trends and Thai Fashion Retailing (RQ3) ... 330
9.1.4 Findings on the Relationship between Creolisation, Thai Fashion Consumer Behaviour and Thai Fashion Supply Chain Management (RQ4)... 332
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9.2 Theoretical Contribution ... 336
9.3 Practical Contribution ... 340
9.4 Limitations of the Research ... 341
9.5 Suggestion for Further Research ... 343
References ... 346
Appendix A: The details of interview questions ... 394
Appendix B: Documentary evidence (Thai fashion retailers) ... 399
Appendix C: Documentary evidence (Thai fashion manufacturers) ... 403
Appendix D: The details of survey questions (English and Thai version) ... 405
Appendix E: The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient results ... 419
Appendix F: Testing non-response bias ... 420
Appendix G: Consent Form ... 421
Appendix H: Cover Letter... 422
Appendix I : List of respondents, fifteen Thai fashion retailers ... 423
Appendix J: List of respondents, ten Thai fashion manufacturers ... 424
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List of Tables
Chapter 2
2.1 The summary of definitions and cultural characteristics of creolisation…………..………17
2.2 Ten differences between individualistic and collectivist cultures………..……..27
2.3 Ten differences between small and large power distance cultures ……….……….28
2.4 Ten differences between masculinity and femininity cultures……….…...29
2.5 Ten differences between weak and strong uncertainty avoidance culture…………....……30
2.6 Ten differences between short- term and long-term oriented cultures………...…...31
2.7 Hofstede‘s the cultural dimension scores………..………31
2.8 The potential effects of creolisation on national culture………..…….…37
Chapter 3 3.1 Cultural influence on various aspects of consumer behaviour……….………46
3.2 Cultural dimension‘s influences on consumer behaviours……….…...71
Chapter 4 4.1 The degree of significance of the skills………..………..……….89
4.2 The comparison between transaction cost economics and resource-based view……...94
4.3 The comparison of lean, agile and leagile supply chain………...………...103
Chapter 5 5.1 The four key research philosophies in the management research……….…...135
5.2 The comparisons on the four research philosophies in the management research………..136
5.3 The comparison between inductive approach and deductive approach………...140
5.4 The difference between qualitative and quantitative method……….………….……144
5.5 Determining sample size from a given population………...151
5.6 Guideline for sample size in qualitative research……….………...152
5.7 The definitions of sampling techniques………...153
5.8 The compositions of the questionnaire survey………...161
5.9 The structure of interviewsquestions………..……….164
5.10 The different between three types of content analysis………...179
Chapter 6 6.1 The characters of Thai fashion style from fifteen Thai fashion retailing companies……..188
6.2 The examples of quotes regarding the effects of creolisation on Thai fashion style…...196
6.3 The summary of empirical evidence on Thai fashion style and creolisation…………...199
6.4 The examples of quotes regarding the effects of cultural change, cultural mixing and ethnicity on the five cultural dimensions of Thai national culture………..204
6.5 The summary of empirical evidence on creolisation and Thai national culture…………..207
6.6 The effects of the five cultural dimensions of Thai national culture on attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control of Thai fashion consumer behaviour………...208
6.7 The summary of empirical evidence on Thai national culture and Thai fashion consumer behaviour……….214
6.8 The effects of the three components of Thai fashion Consumer Behaviour on Thai fashion retailing………....217
6.9 The Influence of Global Fashion Trend on Thai Fashion Consumer Behaviour and Thai fashion Retailing……….223 6.10 The effects of creolisation on Thai fashion consumer behaviour and Thai fashion
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retailers……….226
6.11 The summary of empirical evidence on creolisation, Thai fashion consumer behaviour and Thai fashion supply chain management………..……….231
6.12 The example regarding the effect of Thai national culture on Thai fashion Manufacturing……….234
6.13 The effects of creolisation on Thai fashion retailing and manufacturing………….…...240
6.14 The summary of empirical evidence on creolisation, Thai fashion retailing and Thai fashion manufacturing………...245
Chapter 7 7.1 The summary of demographic characteristics……….251
7.2 Cultures and fashion consumption behaviour………...255
7.3 Thai national cultural values………257
7.4 Fashion consumer behaviour and fashion trends……….……258
7.5 The results of the question how often do you change your fashion clothing styles………259
7.6 The results of the question how often do you update fashion trends………...260
7.7 The results of the question how often on average do you buy Thai fashion clothes……...260
7.8 The results of the question how much on average do you spent monthly on Thai fashion clothes………....261
7.9 Thai fashion style………...……….………...262
7.10 Thai fashion retailing preference……….……....264
7.11 The results regarding the effects of cultural change, cultural mixing and ethnicity on the five cultural dimensions of Thai national culture………..267
7.12 The summary regarding the effects of the five cultural dimensions of Thai national culture on attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control of Thai fashion consumer behaviour……….………..269
7.13 The effects of the three components of Thai fashion consumer behaviour on Thai fashion retailing……….……...272
7.14 The effects of creolisation on Thai fashion consumer behaviour and Thai fashion retailing……….…...275
7.15 Research hypotheses………276
7.16 The identification of independent variables, dependent variables and analytical techniques used……….…..278
7.17 Detection of minimum R^2and sample size………...…...279
7.18 Regression of the influence of creolisation on Thai national culture…………..…...….280
7.19 Pearson‘s correlation coefficients assessing the relationship between cultural change, cultural mixing, ethnicity and Thai national culture………...281
7.20 Multiple regression of the impact of Thai national culture and fashion trend on Thai fashion consumer behaviour………...282
7.21 Pearson‘s correlation coefficients assessing the relationship between the five cultural dimensions of Thai national culture and consumer behaviour………283
7.22 Multiple regression of the influence of Thai fashion consumer behaviour on Thai fashion retailing………285
7.23 Pearson‘s correlation coefficients assessing the relationship between attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioural control of consumer behaviour and Thai fashion retailing………...286
7.24 Regression of the effect of creolisation on Thai fashion consumer behaviour………....287
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7.26 Pearson‘s correlation coefficients assessing the relationship between cultural
change, cultural mixing, ethnicity and Thai fashion consumer behaviour…………...…288 7.27 Pearson‘s correlation coefficients assessing the relationship between cultural change,
cultural mixing, ethnicity and Thai fashion retailing………...289 7.28 The summary of research hypothesis………..293
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List of Figures
Chapter 2
2.1 The interrelated levels of culture………22
Chapter 3 3.1 The influence of culture on consumer behaviour through values and practices at different levels………..……43
3.2 The relative importance of values and practices at various levels of culture………….…...45
3.3 The tripartite model of attitude……….………...54
3.4 Schwartz‘s theoretical model of the ten types of values………...56
3.5 The five factors of personality traits……….59
3.6 The Motivation –Opportunity –Ability model………..………66
3.7 The theory of planed behaviour………...74
3.8 The theoretical framework of culture‘s influence on fashion consumer behaviour………..81
Chapter 4 4.1 A Step-ladder of External and Internal Contractual Relationships……….…..90
4.2 The process of lean, agile and leagile supply chain………102
4.3 Five chain members in a fashion supply chain process………..109
4.4 The influence of fashion trends and consumer behaviour on fashion supply chain management………115
4.5 The relationship between creolisation and the five cultural dimensions of national culture………..……….….124
4.6 The influence of creolisation on national culture and consumer behaviour…………..…..126
4.7 The suggested conceptual framework………...…….….131
Chapter 5 5.1 The inductive process……….……….………....139
5.2 The deductive process……….………139
5.3 Research process……….141
5.4 A sequential exploratory research………..………….…147
5.5 Research design overview………...184
Chapter 6 6.1 The significant aspects of Thai fashion style……….………..192
6.2 The five cultural dimensions of Thai national culture……….200
Chapter 8 8.1 The five cultural dimensions of Thai national culture ………..……..300
8.2 The influence of the three cultural characteristics of creolisation on the five cultural dimensions of Thai national culture………...……….303
8.3 The effects of the five cultural dimensions of Thai national culture on Thai fashion consumer behaviour……….307
8.4 The relationship between creolisation, Thai national culture and Thai fashion consumer behaviour……….………309
8.5 The relationship between Thai fashion consumer behaviour, fashion trends and Thai fashion retailing…...313
8.6 The relationship between creolisation, Thai fashion consumer behaviour and Thai fashion retailing……….…..316
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8.7 The relationship between creolisation, Thai fashion retailing and manufacturing……...318 8.8 Revisiting the suggested conceptual framework………...…...321
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Chapter One: Introduction
Overview
This research focuses on exploring how creolisation and it cultural characteristics, cultural change, cultural mixing and ethnicity influence Thai fashion consumer behaviour and Thai fashion retailing. The current study will develop a suggested conceptual framework to show the link between cultures, consumer behaviour and fashion retailing by the rational construction of the theoretical propositions. Creolisation is an interesting cultural concept that involves cultural change, cultural mixing and ethnicity. Based on the extant literature, there is lack of studies exploring the relationship between creolisation, consumer behaviour and fashion retailing, especially in Thailand. The current study aims to focus on this neglected field, and it is expected that the findings will benefit the Thai fashion industry. In particular, Thai fashion retailers may have interest in the suggested conceptual framework and apply it in order to understand the relationship between creolisation, consumer behaviour and supply chain management. Moreover, the findings could contribute to responsiveness strategy in a fashion supply chain management.
The introductory chapter commences with Section 1.1 which is to provide a board overview of contextual research background and contribution. Followed by, Section 1.2 which identifies the research propose and objectives. Section 1.3 highlights the questions of the research. Section 1.4 presents the research methodology. Finally, Section 1.5 outlines the overall structure of the research.
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1.1Research Background
Creolisation refers to "the appropriation of culturally alien imports to fit the receiving culture's own purpose and structure" (Kragh and Djursaa, 2001, p.1303). In the study, creolisation is the process of cultural crossover that appears when local culture has been influenced by, and integrated with foreign culture. Its definitions involves cross-cultural (Wilson, 1999), cultural change (Loren, 2005; Price, 2001), cultural mixing (Baus, 2009; Glissant, 1995), with indigenous and ethnic identity that feeds into and out of global culture (Eriksen, 1999; Knorr, 2008). In this area, the current study places a focus on creolisation, which is conceptually posited in a manifestation of cultures (cultural change, cultural mixing and ethnicity). Specifically, this study aims to enhance the understanding of the cultural effects of creolisation on consumer behaviour and fashion retailing by examining the link between these three areas:
The first is the relationship between the five cultural dimensions of national culture and creolisation (in manifestation of cultural change, cultural mixing and ethnicity). The five cultural dimensions of national culture include individualism/collectivism, power distance, masculinity/femininity, uncertainty avoidance and time orientation (Hofstede, 1983). The issue here is nature and extent of cultural change in the national cultures (Mangundjaya, 2010). Cultural change is a significant factor that shapes national culture (Taras, 2011). According to empirical studies, cultural change can determine and affect national culture at various cultural dimensions, for example individualism (Koubaa et al., 2011) uncertainty avoidance (Geletkanycz, 1997), masculinity/femininity (Stedhan and Yamamura, 2004) and long-term orientation (Hofstede, 1993). Some studies point out that cultural mixing directly affects individualism/collectivism (Morris et al., 2011; Koubaa et al., 2011), uncertainty
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avoidance, power distance and masculinity (Abusbaker, 2008). In terms of ethnicity, some dimensions of national culture are impacted by ethnic identity: such as power distance and individualism/collectivism (Perea and Slater, 1999). However, evidence above indicates that many of the studies emphasise the impact of cultural change, cultural mixing and ethnicity on some dimensions of Thai national culture. There is still little research exploring the role of creolisation on Thai national culture, and all five cultural dimensions. This corresponds with the first objective of the current study, which aims to identify the influence of creolisation through its manifestation of cultural change, cultural mixing and ethnicity on the five cultural dimensions of Thai national culture.
Secondly, there is the influence of the five cultural dimensions of national culture on consumer behaviour. Theoretically, national cultural values can determine individual behaviour (Taras, 2011). To approach this topic, some studies have integrated the two key underpinning theories, which are the Hofstede's cultural dimension theory and the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) (Pavlou and Chai, 2002; Putit and Arnott, 2007). The five cultural dimensions act as a moderating effect between the three main components and the behavioural intention of the TPB. Attitude towards behavioural intention is influenced by individualism/collectivism (Pavlou and Chai, 2002; Tan et al., 2004) and the masculinity/femininity dimension (Tan et al., 2004; Dinev et al., 2006). Individualism and collectivism strongly impact the two types of subjective norm, namely societal norm and social influence. In particular, societal norm is affected by masculinity/femininity (Dinev et al., 2006), whereas power distance (Pavlou and Chai, 2002; Putit and Arnott, 2007) and uncertainty avoidance directly impact social influence (Dinev et al., 2006). Finally, Power distance (Putit and Arnott, 2007) and long-term/short-term orientation have been shown to significantly affect perceived
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behavioural control (PBC) towards behavioural intentions (Pavlou and Chai, 2002; Putit and Arnott, 2007; Tan et al. 2004). Due to this, it can be postulated that creolisation affects consumer behaviour through the five dimensions of national culture. Notwithstanding this, much research focuses on some cultural dimensions of national culture that influence consumer behaviour. There is a lack of research exploring the effect of all five cultural dimensions of national culture on these components of consumer behaviour, particularly in terms of Thai fashion consumer behaviour. It is expected that the study will complete this gap by providing the empirical findings to the literature.
The third area of relationship investigated is the cultural role of creolisation on consumer behaviour and fashion retailing. Consumer behaviour is a crucial factor that can determine and affect the fashion supply chain management (Barnes and Lea-Greenwood, 2010; Bruce et al., 2004; Zhang et al., 2012). The continual changing trends of consumer behaviour drive demand for a new fashion product (Bruce and Daly, 2006). Many fashion companies tend to directly contact their customers through the downstream side, especially within the retail operations (Caniato et al., 2009). An understanding of customer needs and wants has become a critical for the survival of fashion retailers of all sizes (Donnell et al., 2012). They have focused on enhancing responsiveness to high consumer demands (Azuma and Fernie, 2003). Consumer behaviour also greatly impacts the traditional supply chain (Zhang et al., 2012).
Ideally, the basis of effective supply chain management involves partnership, mutual trust, cooperation and sharing information between members such as suppliers, retailers and business partners within the supply chain (Laskowska-Rutkowska, 2009). Many countries and their workers share mutual factors such as language, religion, customs, borders, beliefs, rules and ethnic heritage (Pagell et al., 2005). Retailers particularly
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require effective research procedures and information systems to understand the cultural differences that may impact consumers‘ purchasing behaviour (Jonsson, 2010). Fashion
retailers may feel pressured to respond to customers who are culturally different (Yao et al., 2011). Correspondingly, the study of international retailing has increasingly emphasised the cultural environment within international markets (Moon and Song, 2015). Hence, retailers need to concentrate on avoiding cultural differences in the supply chain and the customers, particularly in an international market (Alexander and Doherty, 2004). Following on from this, it can be postulated that creolisation may affect the fashion supply chain through consumer behaviour. Nevertheless, the study of the relationship between creolisation and its cultural characteristics (cultural change, cultural mixing and ethnicity), consumer behaviour and fashion supply chain is still lacking. The current study aims to develop a conceptual framework to begin addressing this deficiency.
1.2Research Purpose
This research aims to investigate the effects of creolisation (cultural change, cultural mixing and ethnicity) on consumer behaviour and fashion supply chain management in a Thai retailing context. This doctoral study develops a theoretical and conceptual framework that addresses how creolisation impacts on Thai fashion consumers, retailers and their supply chain. The findings of this research are derived from an inductive (Thai fashion retailers and their supply chain) and deductive (Thai fashion consumers) perspectives to gain a detailed understanding of their relationships. According to the purpose of this research, the following objectives must be achieved;
1. To identify the influence of creolisation on the behaviour of Thai fashion consumers.
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3. To investigate the conceptual relationship between creolisation, consumer behaviour and fashion supply chain management in a Thai retailing context.
In addition, the study also aims to fulfil research gaps. As has been documented in the research background, the three research gaps can be identified as follows. Firstly, the extant literature reveals that many of the studies emphasis the effect of cultural change, cultural mixing and ethnicity on only some dimensions of Thai national culture. There is a lack of research that explores the role of creolisation on all five cultural dimensions of Thai national culture. Secondly, research on the influence of the five cultural dimensions of national culture on consumer behaviour is not comprehensive. Much focuses on the impact of some cultural dimension of national culture but not all five cultural dimensions (Dinev et al., 2006; Pavlou and Chai, 2002; Putit and Arnott, 2007; Tan et al., 2004). Thirdly, it is identified from the literature that there is little research investigating the effect of creolisation and its cultural characteristics, cultural change, cultural mixing and ethnicity on consumer behaviour and fashion supply chain management, particularly in a Thai fashion retailing context. In order to complete these gaps, research questions will be identified in the next section.
1.3Research Questions
As has been identified in the research purpose and objectives, this study focuses on exploring the effects of creolisation (cultural change, cultural mixing and ethnicity) on Thai fashion consumer behaviour and Thai fashion supply chain management. Due to this, the main question is that; what is the relationship between creolisation, Thai fashion consumer behaviour and Thai fashion supply chain management? Specifically, there are the following four research questions:
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Q1: Does creolisation, manifested as cultural change, cultural mixing and ethnicity affect Thai national culture?
Q2: Does Thai national culture affect Thai fashion consumer behaviour?
Q3: How does Thai fashion consumer behaviour affect Thai fashion supply chain management?
Q4: How does creolisation affect Thai fashion consumer behaviour and Thai fashion supply chain management?
1.4Research Methodology
The study takes the scientific realism position (i.e. in the epistemological position) to gain a deeper understanding of a human reality with scientific methods. Scientific realism bases on the assumption of the scientific theorising, which is the most reliable way to describe what there is in the world (Maki, 1990). In order to understand the relationship between culture (creolisation), consumer behaviour and fashion supply chain mangment, this philosophical approach will help the researcher to explain and interpret how creolisation affects Thai fashion consumer behaviour and fashion supply chain management. Scientific realism gives due regards to the success of science but it is an approach that open to all technique and procedures (Hunt, 1991). This leads to the methodological foundations in the study, which encompasses deductive/inductive approaches and mixed methods approache. Deductive is testing the theory, whereas inductive is theory building (Saunders et al, 2009). Particularly, qualitative researchers can adopt both inductive and deductive processes (Patton, 1991). The current study incorporates deductive and inductive approaches in terms of mixed methods. Mixed
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methods permit for the inclusion of both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and analysis to attain a range of outcomes (Creswell, 2005). Using quantitative and qualitative methods is very powerful for gaining data insights and results, and helping researchers make inferences and in draw conclusions (Amaratunga et al., 2002). Additionally, a qualitative approach can steer and provide useful information for the quantitative study (Pantano, 2011). In other words, a qualitative approach allows using the view of interviewees to construct the development of hypothesis in the quantitative phase (May, 1996).
This has relevance to the combination between quantitative and qualitative approaches in the research procedure. The research design stage is based on the philosophical perspective (scientific realism) and the integration of two research approaches (quantitative and qualitative). To address the aim and objectives of the study, the research process is divided into three main stages. The first stage aims to identify the influence of creolisation on the five cultural dimensions of Thai national culture. The second stage aims to explore how creolisation impacts on Thai fashion consumer behaviour. The final stage includes the triangulation approach to validate the research findings on the relationship between creolisation, Thai fashion consumer behaviour and fashion supply chain management.
In this study, the quantitative data will be collected by using questionnaire survey with Thai fashion consumers, whereas qualitative data by the use of semi-structured interview and document analysis with Thai fashion retailers and manufacturers. In particular, semi-structured interview is the most commonly used in qualitative research (Dawson, 2002). The qualitative interviews will reveal the relationship between creolisation, fashion consumer behaviour and fashion supply chain management in Thailand. Moreover, the findings from interviews discussed will be integrated with the
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extant literature to construct hypothesis of quantitative questionnaire in order to investigate the influence of creolisation (i.e. cultural change, cultural mixing and ethnicity) on Thai national culture, Thai fashion consumer behaviour and Thai fashion retailing.
In terms of data analysis, the data from questionnaire survey will be analysed by descriptive statistics and multiple-regression analysis, whereas the interviews data will be analysed by directed content analysis. In particular, the literature review and the findings from qualitative interviews will be used to construct hypotheses to be tested in the quantitative phase, whereas the data from quantitative questionnaire can assist in constructing the overall findings of the study in combination with the qualitative data (Amaratunga et al., 2002; Pantano, 2011). Furthermore, software is very useful to analyse the quantitative and qualitative data in terms of collecting the data from evidence and subsequently organising and also grouping it into similar themes or ideas (Alhojailan, 2012). Due to this, Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 22.0 software will be employed to analyse the quantitative data, whereas NVivo software version 10 will be used to analyse the qualitative data. Afterwards, the overall findings will be combined and interpreted together, in order to reach the research purpose and address the research questions.
1.5Research Structure
The current study is organised into nine chapters as follows. In Chapter One, an introduction to the research is given. Chapter Two aims to review the definition and the conceptual basis of the relationship between creolisation and culture. Chapter three focuses directly on reviewing empirical literature on the influence of creolisation on
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consumer behaviour and also illustrates the theoretical background of the study. Chapter Four provides an overview of fashion supply chain management, particularly including the role of creolisation in consumer behaviour and fashion supply chain management. Moreover, the theoretical propositions development is presented in order to construct the suggested conceptual framework. Chapter Five is concerned with the presentation of research methodology. In terms of data analysis, Chapter Six aims to discuss the interviews results and documentary evidence of qualitative phase whereas Chapter Seven focuses on questionnaire results of quantitative phase. Afterwards, Chapter Eight presents the interpretation of key themes and revisiting the suggested conceptual framework. Finally, the study ends with Chapter Nine, which provides discussion of the empirical results, contribution of the research, research limitations and further research implications.
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Chapter Two: The Relationship between Creolisation and Culture
Introduction
A review of the literature commences with Chapter Two, which initially provides the definition and the concept of creolisation in terms of culture. Then, the relationship between creolisation and culture will be detailed. There is the implication of creolisation on various contexts of culture such cultural value, cultural level, cultural dimensions, ethnicity, acculturation and particularly, national culture. Lastly, the potential effects of creolisation on national culture will be discussed.
2.1 Concept of Creolisation
In the past couple of decades, much cultural research has been undertaken on the concept of creolisation in different contexts (Kapchan, 1993; Hannerz, 1996; Schmidt, 2003; Haring, 2004; Maygarden, 2006; Burns, 2008 and Hung, 2009). Originally, the concept of cultural creolisation emerged in the Caribbean area during the colonial period (Cohen, 2007), and is a product of colonialism (Khan, 2009) as well as a Caribbean process (Hannerz, 1992). The growth of cultural creolisation or creole culture has been taking place over long period of time and has constantly been developing (Schmidt, 2003). The concept of cultural creolisation is also an interesting cultural concept for the understanding of human behaviour, which appears in various circumstances (Hannerz, 1987; Schmidt, 2003; Jourdan, 2004; Cohen, 2007).
The concept of cultural creolisation has been intensely debated by many scholars. One of the foremost scholars, Ulf Hannerz commented that the concept of creolisation is a global process (Hannerz, 1992) and believes that we live in ‗creolising world‘
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(Hannerz, 1987). In the view of Hannerz, also paralleled creole culture like creole language:
―As languages have different dimension such as grammar, phonology and lexicon, and as creole languages are formed as unique combinations and creolisation out of the interaction between languages in these various dimension, so creole cultures come out of multidimensional cultural encounters and can put things together in new ways (Hannerz,1992, pp.265).‖
Correspondingly, Haring (2004) and Baus (2009) concurred that the concept of cultural creolisation originates from creole linguistics and is involved with the history of cultural analysis. Creolisation also indicates the cultural formation of something sporadic and new, whose origins can no longer be specifically determined.
The concept of cultural creolisation can be related to the theory of cultural flow (Hannerz, 1996). As Hannerz (1992, pp.218) pointed out that the process of cultural flow in between central and peripheral cultures that ―while the central of metropolis has
clearly more power than the periphery, they are somehow linked to each other and they are reluctantly connected‖. At the same time, Hannerz also stressed the notion of cultural
flow by the quote from Alfred Kroeber (Kroeber, 1952) which has been separated as two directions. Firstly, referring to the shift of something over time from one location to another or called a territorial redistribution. The second one is a primarily temporal with unnecessary spatial implication (Hannerz, 1997).
According to Eriksen (2007), the concept of cultural creolisation has been criticized from two perspectives. Firstly, the concept can be seen as too extensive and general, that every cultural process is creole in character and the term seems superfluous. Secondly, the existence of pure forms before creolisation is generally assumed, but to Eriksen, that may not always be the case. Cohen (2007) suggested that the concept of
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cultural creolisation has developed in two ways. The first relates to ―a state-led appropriation of mixture,‖ whereas the second refers to the demagogy which conflicts
with the blend of culture, for instance, the case of African slaves who are incited to immigrate to other areas for labour. This latter way is negatively called ‗black‘ creolisation (Cohen, 2007).
In terms of cultural change, creolisation is usually defined as an analogy to the model of cultural change (Ferguson, 1992; Lightfoot and Martinez, 1995; Dietler, 1998; Dawdy, 2000; Price, 2001; Trouilot, 2002 and Loren, 2005), which is known as cultural contact or cultural encounter, leading to integration aspects of acculturation (Khan, 2009) and interculturation (Brathwait, 1971). In particular, Jourdan (2004) also advocated that the concept of cultural creolisation as cultural change:
―The concept of creolisation seems to have captured the imagination of some scholars as a way of talking about and analysing rapid cultural change associated with contact between societies of different ideological and technological orientation (Jourdan, 2004, p.2904).‖
Furthermore, some aspects of the concept of cultural creolisation overlap with that of cultural exchange (Galinson, 1997 and Baus, 2009). The concept of cultural exchange refers to the process when different original cultures coexist and share identity with one another (Baus, 2009). As for Harris (1999), cultural creolisation is interpreted as a cross-cultural experience.
Many scholars concur that the concept of creolisation has also been related with hybridisation since the 1990s (Kapchan, 1993; Jourdan, 2004; Eriksen, 2007; Burn, 2008; Baus, 2009). Baus (2009), especially, notes that the concept of cultural creolisation has been used interchangeably with hybridisation to explain the blending of two ethnics. Contrarily, Glissant (1995) disputed that the concept of cultural
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creolisation is different from hybridisation and cross-breeding. In contrast, Glissant also commented the unique aspect of creolisation is that it habitually creates newness, whereas hybridisation is only a mixing process.
Additionally, Glissant‘s argument (1995) also clearly described the concept of cultural creolisation as ―an on-going process‖ with ―unknown consequences.‖ The inherent aspect of creolisation occurs in middle of diverse cultures and involves cultural mixing. Glissant limited the concept of cultural creolisation to the plantation areas in the Caribbean, Brazil and some parts of Central Americathis conflicts with the view of Hannerz (1987) that cultural creolisation appears across the world. Despite various comments in the exiting literature, the concept of cultural creolisation is not only defined as a cultural mixing, but also relates to the indigenous and ethnic identity amidst the global culture. This is the key concept of cultural creolisation, which differs from other types of culture mixing (Eriksen, 1999; Knorr, 2008).
In the social world, creolisation can be found in many popular cultures such as languages, religions, music, festivals and food. Popular culture refers to "the culture of the masses, which norms, rituals and values that have appeal" (Usunier, 2000, p.148). Especially, creolisation is originally related to linguistics which is a process of formation of creole language that derives from two different root languages. This latter meaning involves anthropology and also has often been used in creolisation studies (Jourdan, 2004). In others, Cohen (2007) described creolisation can be found in several cultures which are religion, festival, music and food.
Religion, creolisation is analogous with the expression of syncretism. The similar aspect of creolisation and syncretism is the mixing of two or more. Syncretism is the mixing of religious beliefs between foreign religions and ethnic religions. These
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religions really undergo a process of blending. For instance, Voodoo in Haiti, Santaria in Cuba, Shango in Trinidad and Candomble in Brazil.
Creolisation festival is a process of ritual change or traditional change. For instance in rituals such as birth, death or naming ceremony, the traditions such as dancing, music, folklore and poetry by people in society have shared cultures. Creolisation festivals have also appeared through the integration of different cultures such as African street parades in America, Asian festivals in Europe, Latin carnivals in Australia, Japanese cherry blossom festival in San Francisco and Chinese New Year festival in Thailand.
The prominent music in terms of creolisation is Jazz music, which has been integrated between African folk music and America music. Jazz is originated by workers in plantations and African creole music in New Orleans (Cohen, 2007, pp.7). Moreover, other forms of creole music are Sega in Mauritius, Calypso in Trinidad, Morna in Cape Verdes, Son and Changui music in Cuba, Samba, Capoeira and Maracatu music in Brazil, Hip-hop mixes with rock music in USA, Indi pop blends with rock, rap and reggae in India (Jourdan, 2000) and Zydeco music (African-American music) in rural Louisiana, America (Spitzer, 2003). These unifications are a result from the mixing of diverse cultures, which are created by people in rural and urban areas.
Creole food refers to a combination between elements and traditions, which are authentic and foreign products and cuisine. This process is related to creolisation. For instance, African food in Caribbean islands, European cuisine in Indian Ocean, African and French cuisine in Louisiana, USA, and Mexican rice mixes with spaghetti sauce or spread peanut butter blends with jelly on tortillas (Wartzman, 1999). While, in New Orleans creole food has been compared with Cajun that is French-speaking Arcadians from Canada who relocated to Louisiana after the British military victories in Canada
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(Cohen, 2007). In addition, Creole food has also appeared from various traditions such as new trade routes, incorporating locally-found edible fruit, herbs, fish, poultry and animals into older cooking traditions, for example Chicken Larb Burger is a traditional Thai food and mixed with American street food.
To conclude, the connotation of creolisation is both process and concept. The concept of cultural creolisation involves in various cultural forms which are cultural flow, cross-culture, cultural mixing, cultural change, acculturation, and hybridisation. Table 2.1 briefly summarises the definitions and cultural characteristics of creolisation from several studies.
Author(s) The summary of definitions
Hannerz, 1987 Creolisation is a global process and related to the theory of cultural flow.
Balutansky and Sourieuau, 1998 (p.1)
Creolisation refers to "a syncretic process of transverse dynamic that endlessly re-works and transforms the cultural patterns of varied social and historical experiences and identities".
Burns, 2008; Wilson, 1999
The implication of creolisation relates to cross-culture.
Dawdy, 2000; Dietler, 1998; Ferguson, 1992; Lightfoot and Martinez, 1995; Loren, 2005; Price, 2001; Trouilot, 2002
Creolisation is usually as an analogy to the model of cultural change.
Haring, 2004 Creolisation is not only defined like other terms such as acculturation, transculturation, mixing and hybridization. It also is "the creation of something discontinuous and new, which could not have been predicted from its origins" (2004, p.1)
Jourdan, 2004 The process of world social change that occurs when various origins are united into a new system of meaning locally produced and takes place in societies characterized by rapid social flux.
Khan, 2009 Creolisation refers to the forms and dynamics of cultural change that develop over times as phenotypically and culturally heterogeneous. It also undergoes the acculturation.
Kragh and Djursaa, 2001
Creolisation (or Indigenisation) The appropriation of culturally alien imports to fit the receiving culture‘s own purpose and structure, i.e. partial adoption in which the receiving culture accepts the product without necessarily accepting the full meaning complex or the syntactical rules which attached to it in the originator culture.
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Baus, 2009 Creolisation is regarded as a process which takes place during the course of time when the origin cultures integrate and intermix with each other.
Glissant, 1995 Creolisation is referred to "an on-going process" with" unknown consequences" and involves cultural mixing. Creolisation creates the newness, whereas hybridisation is only a mixing process.
Mufwene, 1998 This is the only kind of evolutionary process observable in various combination and in various degree elsewhere; they simply been branded with social values.
Eriksen, 1999; Knorr, 2008
Creolisation is not only a cultural mixing but also relates to the indigenous and ethnic identity of global culture.
Knorr, 2008 Diversity of origins is often constituted as a part of creole identity once the process of creolisation has been completed.
Baus,2009; Burn, 2008; Eriksen; 2007; Jourdan, 2004; Kapchan, 1993
Creolisation closely links and has been used interchangeably with hybridisation (i.e. cultural mixing) to explain the blending of two cultures.
Table 2.1: The summary of definitions and cultural characteristics of creolisation
Based on the table above, creolisation is closely involved in terms of cultural change, cultural mixing and ethnicity. Hence, creolisation in the current study can be referred to the process of cross-cultural change and cultural mixing that appears when original cultures have been influenced by and integrated with foreign cultures. However, the concept of creolisation is not only claimed as the cultural change or cultural mixing but also related to indigenous or ethnic identity and creates something new. This is the intrinsic concept of creolisation which makes it is different from other related cultures such as hybridisation and cross-culture.
2.2 Creolisation and Culture
In the myriad of meaning, culture is generally defined in various perspectives. The first definition was invented in 1871 by the British anthropologist, Sir Edward Burnett Taylor that "culture as the complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art,
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morals, custom and any other capabilities, and habit acquired by man as a member of society" (Haviland, 1994, p.304). Similarly, Assael (1987, p.297) described culture as ―the norm, beliefs and customs that are learned from society and lead to common patterns of behaviour‖. In other views, Schein (1992) pointed out that culture as what a
group learns over a long period of time and that group solves its problems of survival in both an internal integration and external environment. Weinreich (2009) suggested that a fundamental aspect of culture is its embodiment of the societal process of substantial groups of people who perceive themselves as belonging to a commonality of values and beliefs, moral imperatives and religious beliefs, dress and behaviour, folklore and narratives of history, and modes of living, whereby one group is culturally distinctive from another. Culture also emerges from the interaction of basic human nature with specific ecological context in which groups exist through a process of environmental adaptations (Matsumoto, 2007).
In terms of anthropology, culture refers to the shared beliefs, values, attitudes and expectations about appropriate ways to behave that are held by the members of a social group (Statt, 1990). As the foremost anthropologists define culture is society what memory is to individual (Kroeber and Kluckhohn, 1952). Correspondingly, creolisation in terms of anthropology has also been associated with culture and called cultural creolisation (Jourdan 2004). Typically, creolisation can be found in various contexts of culture such as linguistics (Burns, 2008; Harring, 2004), religion (Schmidt, 2003), sociocultural aspect (Jourdan, 2004; Trouillot, 2004), cultural flow (Hannerz, 1996), cross-culture (Burns, 2008; Willson, 1999), cultural change (Lightfoot and Martinez, 1995; Price, 2001), cultural exchange (Baus, 2009; Galinson, 1997), acculturation (Khan, 2009), hybridisation (Kapchan, 1993) and ethnicity (Knorr, 2000). Nevertheless, culture is not an independent variable, but has been influenced by several factors such
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as geography and climate, politics, religion and history (Watkins, 2010). Consequently, it means that creolisation can also be the one of these factors, which affects culture.
Moreover, creolisation can be related to culture in terms of emic and etic approaches. Emic and etic approaches are cultural approaches that describe human behaviour in each culture (De Mooji, 2004). Originally, the term emic and etic derives from the classification in linguistic which are the phonemic (specific) and the phonetic (general) (Pike, 1954, 1967). Phonemic refers to examination of sounds for their meaning-bearing roles in a particular language, whereas phonetics is a study on universal sounds covering all languages (Xia, 2011). Emic approach denotes behaviour of one original culture. This approach aims to careful, internal exploration of psychological phenomena in local cultural terms (Segall et al., 1998). On the other hand, etic approach refers to the comparison of one culture with another. This approach is typical of cross-cultural psychology and other comparative social sciences (Luna and Gupta, 2001).
These concepts of emic and etic can be used to explain the differences between cultures in their distributions of behaviour pattern, norms, attitudes, and personality variables (De Mooji, 2004, p.27). Emic and etic provide a way of discriminating between various types of data for the study of cultural phenomena (Xia, 2011, p.77). In terms of creolisation, emic and etic are originated from linguistics, which parallel the genesis of creolisation. In particular, the important meaning of etic is a cross-cultural process (Berry et al., 1992). Similarly, creolisation also has a cross-cultural aspect (Willson, 1999). For this reason, the etic approach can be espoused to explicate the concept of creolisation in terms of culture.
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2.3 Creolisation and Cultural Values
In terms of culture, values are posited in culture as called cultural values (Hofstede, 1980). The important of values are the central concept of culture (Belk, 1985; Hofstede, 1980; Kroeber and Kluckholn, 1952; Luna and Gupta, 2001; Parson and Shils, 1952; Watkins, 2010) and as a key component underlying similarities and differences between societies (Douglas and Craig, 1997). Values can also be used to efficiently discriminate one culture from another (Luna and Gupta, 2001). At the same way, culture shapes the core values and norms of its member (Erezt and Gati, 2004).
Values are frequently defined by many cultural scholars. The commonly held definition is that of Rokeach (1968, p.161) who stated that ―a value as a centrally held, enduring beliefs which guide actions and judgments across specific situations and beyond immediately goals to more ultimate end-states of existence‖. Rokeach (1968) also divided values into two levels, which are terminal values and instrumental values. Terminal values refer to desirable end-state of existence, whereas instrumental value refer to desirable modes of conduct; they were motivations to reach end-states of existence (De Mooji, 2004). Likewise, Hofstede (1991) distinguished values into two aspects, which are desirable and desired. Desirable is referred to values as guiding principles in life, whereas desired refers to values as a preference for one mode of behaviour over another. In other scholars, Schwartz and Bilsky (1987) defined values have the five features which include (1) concepts of beliefs, (2) about desirable and state of behaviours, (3) that transcends specific situations, (4) guide selection or evaluation of behaviour and events and (5) are ordered by relative importance (As cited in Watkins, 2010). Karahanna et al., (2005) defined values as a relationship among
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conceptual categories that are characterised by strong emotional elements and indicate a preference for a certain type of action.
Cultural values are expressed in society‘s perceptions of reality and beliefs of what is
desirable; seem to be transferred to products through vehicles as advertising (Belk, 1985). Cultural values also include shared beliefs and the unquestioned assumptions about what is important and right and normal in the way people behave (Statt, 1997). Extant literature suggested that creolisation is related to cultural contexts and cultural values obviously involve creolisation. As Wilkie (1997) described creolisation is seen as a process that is represented by retentions in cultural values that become expressed in new ways due to cultural contact and relocation. Likewise, Mufwene (1998) defined creolisation as normal kinds of evolutionary processes and branded with special social values. Additionally, some aspects of creolisation resemble the contents of cultural values. In particular, language is the most visible and immediate ways in which culture differ from each other (Statt, 1997). For instance, some countries have their own language such as Japan (Japanese language) and Thailand (Thai language).
2.4 Creolisation and Cultural Level
According to the extant literature, culture is classified at various levels, which are global culture (i.e. supranational), national culture (i.e. cross cultural level or macro level), organisational culture, professional and group culture (i.e. sub-culture), and individual level (Ali and Brooks, 2009; Hofstede, 1976; Karahanna et al., 2005; McCoy, 2003; Triandis, 1972). Global culture or supranational level refers to the general aspects of culture, which are represented in across the world such as regional, religious, ethnic, and linguistic (Karahanna et al., 2005). National level is the culture
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shared between people in a society or a country (Hofstede, 1984). Organisational level refers to culture shared between people who work in an organisation (Stahl, 2003). Professional level reflects people who share culture with a similar profession or called a sub-culture of specific interest group such as professional association, political party, and ethnic groups (Ali and Brooks, 2009). These subcultures are influenced by the norms and values (Triandis, 1972, cited in Ali and Brooks, 2009). Finally, individual culture refers to the subjective of an individual, which is related to how much an individual takes from the different cultures that the individual is part of (Dofman and Howell, 1988; Karahanna et al., 2005, cited in Ali and Brooks, 2009). The interrelated levels of culture can be demonstrated by:
Figure 2.1: The interrelated levels of culture (Adapted from Karahanna et al, 2005)
Supranational National Professional Organisational Group Individual
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Furthermore, Schwartz (1994, cited in Uichol, 1994) suggested that individual level types have been used differently from other cultural level types. Individual level can be used for understanding the differences between individual is beliefs, attitudes, or behaviour that are involved with individual differences in value priorities. While, culture levels can be used to understand the differences among cultures in their institutions, symbol systems, and styles of behaviour. Likewise, De Mooji (2004) concurred that value types found within countries have differences from values types that are found across countries because they have many different factor loadings, as individuals and groups may differ substantially in the importance they attribute to the values which constitute a value type.
Many cross cultural researchers have focused on the national level (Erez and Gati, 2004). Culture at a national level is called national culture (Ali and Brooks, 2009), and Hofstede (1991, p.5) defined national culture as ―the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another‖. Hofstede suggests that people share a collective national character that represents their cultural mental programming, which shapes individual‘s values, beliefs, assumptions, expectations, attitude and behaviour (Gong, 2009). The concept of mental programming refers to the act of thinking, feeling and acting that manifests itself into beliefs, attitudes and behaviours (Hofstede, 1980, 2001). In other views, House et al., (1997) simply defined national culture as a distinct environment of a community about which members share meaning and values. Similarly, Leung et al., (2005) suggested that national culture is the values, beliefs, norms and behavioual patterns of a national group. National culture is also related to cross cultural study of what the society shares, which is a set of values, norms and practices (Ali and Brooks, 2009). These society shares directly shape individual behaviours and the whole society (Adler, 1997). In